NEW YORK – Winter and snow lovers in New York City will likely need to wait a bit longer to enjoy the flakes falling from the sky, putting the record for the latest first snowfall in the Big Apple in jeopardy.
The record for New York City’s latest first snow was set on Jan. 29, 1973. And with no real snow chances in the forecast for the next several days, there’s a possibility that this winter could go down in the record books.
In fact, no snow has been measured in New York City since March 9, 2022, when 0.4 inches of snow fell. Since then, the city has been in a snow drought. And with snow no longer expected in New York City on Wednesday, that will place this winter in second place for the longest snowless streak at 322 days.
If you’re in New York City, you may be saying to yourself, “But I’ve seen snow falling from the sky this winter.”
That’s true. But it doesn’t count, unfortunately.
Snow accumulation of at least 0.1 inches must be recorded for the National Weather Service to consider it a measurable snowfall.
And while millions of New Yorkers have experienced snow flurries, it wasn’t nearly enough to be considered measurable.
A powerful winter storm is making its way across the Midwest and Northeast on Wednesday, and some heavy snow is expected in upstate New York and across northern New England.
But once again, areas along the Interstate 95 corridor from Boston through Providence, Rhode Island, New Haven, Connecticut, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington will have mainly a rain event with this storm.
“A lot of it has to do with the storm track,” FOX Weather winter storm specialist Tom Niziol said. “These tracks have been too far west to really allow cold air to lock in across the East.”
That’s why most of the winter storms that have impacted the region this winter have been mostly rain events along the I-95 corridor.
Technically, it snowed in New York City on Wednesday, but it happened about 10,000 feet in the air and didn’t reach the ground.
This is mostly because of the dry air aloft.
As the snow descended toward the ground, it encountered that layer of dry air and evaporated before it could reach the ground.
“Earlier this morning, there was very dry air, and as that air moistened up, the temperature dropped rapidly,” Niziol said. “So, the temperatures are down in the teens aloft. As we move through the day here and go into the afternoon and evening hours, the temperatures in places like Albany (New York) are going to stay roughly in the low-30s.”
It will be cold enough to support snow there, but as the system continues to move across the region, it will pull in the warmer air, preventing snow in New York City and along the I-95 corridor, including southern New England.